High school softball playoffs underway

High school softball teams tend to rely on one ace pitcher, but Seguin showed last weekend why it is sometimes good to have a second option.

Matadors pitchers Kim Bateman and Ciara Luna pitched two shutouts that ended Burbank's season. Luna limited the Bulldogs to three hits in a 1-0 win Friday at the SAISD complex Diamond No. 1. Bateman (13-6) scattered five hits Saturday in a 4-0 decision in Seguin.

"Kate and Ciara, each one takes a turn," Seguin coach John Garcia said. "They were both very dominant in the circle. They both had very good control and very good mechanics."

Against each, Burbank (15-16-1) struggled to get run-producing hits.

"Coach Garcia has two good pitchers," Burbank coach Ross Ramirez said. "(Bateman) has a lot of speed. (Luna) has a lot of junk. They were able to keep us guessing. We had to adjust to one, then we had to adjust to another."

Seguin (27-9) took control with a big third inning Saturday. McKayla Mayfield led off with a single and advanced on an error.

"This is one of the best teams in the state," Ramirez said of Seguin. "For us to play with them, I'm very proud. The girls played hard and believed in one another this season.

"They beat us on errors last night and again today."

Catcher Megan Reilley followed with a double and the Matadors led 3-0.

"We just put the bat on the ball," Garcia said. "We put pressure on the defense and, eventually, good things happened."

The Matadors added another run against Burbank pitcher Stephanie Contreras (11-14) in the sixth. Mayfield contributed a one-out double. Ally Tovar and Kelly Koenig followed with singles. Koenig earned the RBI.

"It was tough on us, having one pitcher this year," Ramirez said. "In other years, we had two or three. The times when we would have liked to bring in another, we had to stick with Stephanie. But Stephanie's been unbelievable all season."

Shortstop Val Arriaga led Burbank with three hits. She had a leadoff single in the fourth and two-out base hits in the first and sixth.

In Friday's game, Seguin scored the lone run in the third inning. Burbank had a late rally snuffed out.

"We had a couple (of chances)," Ramirez said. "Stepanie led off the bottom of the seventh with a double. We had a chance to win, but we didn't hit the ball."

The Bulldogs entered the playoffs as the third seed from District 28-4A. They finished with a 10-4 district record.

"I guess it's good that," Ramirez said, "although we had our problems throughout the season, we were able to come through them and come together -- regardless of our ups and downs."

Seguin advanced to play Dripping Springs in the area round.

"It's been really good," Garcia said of the season. "I think it's been more of a family than any of the years I've been at Seguin. It's been fun, a lot of fun."

In other playoff news, Edison, Harlandale and Southwest continued on to the area round.

District 28-4A champion Edison swept Kerrville Tivy 5-3 and 1-0, winning both games on the road. Southwest also was a road warrior, beating Sharyland 3-0 and 2-1 in a pair of contests at Texas A&M-Kingsville. Harlandale won a one-game playoff over Beeville Jones 3-2 at Tejeda Field.

Harlandale advances to meet Alice. Southwest plays San Benito in the area round. Edison will play the Austin McCallum-Hutto winner in the next round.